It was easy to overlook a quiet warning that recently emerged from Amtrak \u2014 one in a series of challenges for an effort called\u00a0Penn Station Access, which seeks for the first time\u00a0to bring\u00a0Metro-North trains\u00a0into Penn.<\/p>\n
For the Long Island Rail Road,\u00a0this\u00a0was a loud whistle\u00a0of potential trouble ahead.<\/p>\n
In a letter to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Amtrak executive vice president Laura Mason wrote that “any new Metro-North service must also be accompanied by a reduction in Long Island Rail Road service levels …” into Penn Station.<\/p>\n
MTA chief executive Janno Lieber quickly called\u00a0the suggestion\u00a0“a nonstarter.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
He’s right. LIRR riders, who come Sunday\u00a0will face a fare increase\u00a0with some ticket costs rising as much as 8%,\u00a0shouldn’t have to\u00a0sacrifice for another railroad’s expansion.<\/p>\n
Amtrak’s concern emanates from the fact\u00a0that Penn Station has only a limited\u00a0number of “slots.” Some go to Amtrak, some to New Jersey Transit and\u00a0others to the MTA. Once Metro-North joins\u00a0the LIRR\u00a0rolling\u00a0into Penn, they’ll each need a certain number of those slots. In years past, LIRR riders were reassured that Penn Access\u00a0would not result in\u00a0any reduction of slots\u00a0at Penn Station, especially once the LIRR had shifted its schedules with the addition of service to Grand Central Madison.<\/p>\n
Amtrak officials say their concern stems partly from the\u00a0East River Tunnel repairs\u00a0which have\u00a0affected LIRR schedules. By Amtrak’s own promises, that construction should be done before Penn Access service begins. And if Amtrak doesn’t keep to its schedule, that shouldn’t be the LIRR’s problem.<\/p>\n
Amtrak knows that. Four years ago, the Newsday editorial board issued a word of caution about the Penn Access\u00a0plans, then in their infancy.<\/p>\n
“The MTA must make sure there aren’t negative consequences for the LIRR that would stymie its expansion,” the board wrote. “The two commuter rails must complement each other, without hurting one another’s growth.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
That remains true.\u00a0MTA and LIRR officials\u00a0should take Amtrak’s warnings seriously. But in all future discussions, negotiations and planning with the national passenger rail system, Lieber and other MTA officials must stick to their “nonstarter” position.<\/p>\n
LIRR riders have faced their own delays, outages and service issues every time capital improvements are underway\u00a0\u2014\u00a0but they eventually see\u00a0the fruits of those efforts, from the reliability gained through the\u00a0Main Line’s Third Track to the new destination of Grand Central Madison. They shouldn’t have to face\u00a0service changes due to another railroad’s project.<\/p>\n
MTA and Amtrak officials must find a way to accommodate Metro-North without diminishing LIRR service\u00a0during construction or once tracks are allocated.\u00a0Both commuter railroads should be able to grow and flourish, without causing harm to either\u00a0system’s riders.<\/p>\n
Metro-North’s gain must not be the LIRR’s loss.<\/p>\n
MEMBERS OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD\u00a0are experienced journalists who offer reasoned\u00a0opinions, based on facts, to encourage informed debate about the issues facing our community.<\/p>\n
\n\tMembers of the editorial board\u00a0are experienced journalists who offer reasoned opinions, based on facts, to encourage informed debate about the issues facing our community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was easy to overlook a quiet warning that recently emerged from Amtrak \u2014 one in a series…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87498,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[304,1606,75,84,83,9,24,17975,63],"class_list":{"0":"post-87497","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manhattan","8":"tag-editorial","9":"tag-lirr","10":"tag-manhattan","11":"tag-manhattan-headlines","12":"tag-manhattan-news","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-newsday","16":"tag-nyc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}